Letter dated 14 July 2006 from the President of theSecurity Council addressed to the Permanent Representativeof the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations

Thank you for your letter (S/2006/526) which I received today. In response, I wish to point out the following.

The modalities of the public meeting on the Middle East, which was held today, were decided by the Security Council at its consultations held on 13 July.

Of course, as soon as I was informed of it, I immediately brought to the attention of the members of the Security Council the requests made by three delegations, including yours, to participate in this meeting.

No member of the Security Council wished the modalities of this meeting to be modified and the meeting was therefore held in accordance with the modalities that were initially decided upon and you were not invited to participate in it.